The Kombucha culture you have received has been packaged in starter tea for transport. Do no discard the shipping liquid! It is required to make your first batch of Kombucha. Please make your first batch of Kombucha as soon as possible upon arrival the culture.
You have received one Kombucha culture and ½ cup starter tea. This will allow you to initially make one quart of Kombucha tea. Once your first batch of tea is complete, you can use up to 2 cups of the tea as starter tea to make up to one gallon of Kombucha.
NEVER ALLOW THE CULTURE TOUCH METAL! This includes measuring spoons/cups and stirring utensils. We recommend using glass jars for culturing water kefir (such as canning jars).
Do not consume any kombucha which smells, looks or tastes unpleasant.
Supplies:
One jar (quart, half gallon or gallon sized) with a tight lid (the lid will be used once the tea is complete)
A plastic or wood stirring utensil (never use metal in contact with a Kombucha culture!)
A towel or paper coffee filter
A rubber band
One Kombucha culture
Organic loose tea or tea bags
Black tea is traditionally used but Kombucha can be made successfully with green or herbal teas
Good teas for making Kombucha include Oolong, English Breakfast, Ceylon (unflavored) and unflavored varieties of Green Teas
Do not use teas containing oils, this includes Earl Grey, Orange Spice, and similar teas.)
Organic cane sugar (evaporated cane crystals work best—do not use Rapadura or similar sugars)
Starter tea from a previous batch of Kombucha
Filtered water (non-chlorinated)
Ingredient Ratios:
Container Size
Tea Amount
Sugar Amount
Water Amount
Starter Tea Amount
One quart
1 ½ t. loose tea or 2 tea bags
1/4 c.
3 ¼ c. (approx.)
½ c.
Half-gallon
1 T. loose tea or 4 tea bags
½ c.
6 ½ c. (approx.)
1 c.
Gallon
2 T. loose tea or 8 tea bags
1 c.
13 c. (approx.)
2 c.
Directions:
Place hot water and sugar together in a jar. Mix until the sugar dissolves. The water should be hot enough to steep the tea but does not have to be boiling.
Place the tea in the sugar water and allow the tea to steep. Allow to cool to room temperature (this will likely take most of the day if you are making a gallon-size jar). You can wait until the water is cool before removing the tea bag if desired.
Place the Kombucha culture and starter tea in the jar of fresh tea.
Cover the jar tightly (keep the fruit flies out!) but allow the mixture to breathe. A towel or paper coffee filter along with a thick rubber band work best for this. Do not use an air tight lid!
Allow the jar to sit undisturbed and out of direct sunlight for at least 5 days. You may notice a stringy brown substance forming and clinging together, to the bottom of the jar or to the Kombucha culture. This yeast is a natural byproduct of the fermentation process and can be strained prior to consuming the finished Kombucha.
During fermentation, Kombucha cultures may sink, float or stay in a vertical position. This does not affect the brewing process.
You can start tasting the tea after 5 days although we recommend giving it at least 7 days to culture. The longer you leave the tea, the less sugar will remain. If you prefer sweeter tea, you will want to culture the tea for a shorter period of time (7-10 days) but if you are trying to avoid sugar, you may want to culture the tea for a longer period of time (14-30 days).
Once the tea has reached the desired level of fermentation, remove the original Kombucha culture (the “mother”) and the newly formed culture (the “baby). The mother culture may have sunk to the bottom or may have floated at the top (either is fine). The baby culture should be covering the jar opening. You can now use both the mother and the baby to make two jars of Kombucha. If the original and new cultures have fused, you can either tear them apart or use them as a single culture for your next batch.
Tightly cover the jar with a regular lid (air-tight is best). At this point, you can choose to allow the tea to rest for a few days (may improve carbonation) or drink it immediately. Adding fruit juice prior to putting the lid on the jar will improve carbonation during this second fermentation (make sure the culture is removed before adding the juice). Finished Kombucha tea may be stored on the counter or in the refrigerator.
Before drinking, you may choose to strain the tea of yeast particles but they are actually nutritious to consume.
If you allow the tea to sit for a period of time before consuming, be aware that a new “baby” culture may begin to form. This immature culture can be consumed or strained off and composted. If the tea sits for a long period, a full Kombucha culture may form. This culture can be used to make future batches of Kombucha or discarded.
If you need to store Kombucha cultures for a period of time, place them in a jar with some Kombucha tea and a cover it with a tight lid. Store on the counter. They can generally survive this way for a few weeks.
Important Information:
Kombucha tea can be flavored with juice, ginger slices, etc. after it has completed the brewing process (culture removed) although it is also quite good without additional flavoring.
The size of the Kombucha culture does not affect the size of the batch you can brew. Small cultures are just as effective as large cultures.
If you are anxious to brew a large batch of Kombucha, we recommend only letting your first quart of Kombucha brew for 5-7 days. At this point the Kombucha will still be rather sweet but contains the cultures necessary to use it as starter tea. The entire quart of Kombucha tea and the two cultures (since a new culture will form during fermentation) can then be used to make two jars of Kombucha (half-gallon or gallon jars if desired).
Different varieties of tea (Oolong vs. Green vs. English Breakfast, etc.) will produce different Kombucha tastes. Green teas make for a more mild Kombucha while English Breakfast makes for a stronger tasting Kombucha. We recommend Oolong for making a particularly tasty Kombucha tea.
If you are culturing multiple products (e.g. different varieties of yogurt, buttermilk, kefir, Kombucha, etc.) be sure to keep a distance of at least several feet between cultures so they don’t cross-contaminate each other. Over time, cross-contamination will weaken the cultures.
